Professor and Entrepreneur on Why Education System Is ‘Biased Against Boys’

Professor and podcast host Scott Galloway will appear on this week’s episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, streaming Friday on Max. In an exclusive clip shared with Men’s Journal, Galloway explains why young men in America are struggling with mental health, laying the problem at the feet of an education system which he says “is highly biased against boys.”

Galloway is a clinical professor of marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business. Ironically, he’s often referred to as “the Howard Stern of the business world” because “I’m profane and vulgar,” the professor says with a chuckle. He’s served on the board of directors for Eddie Bauer, The New York Times, and hosts The Prof G Pod.

Galloway may have a point regarding men in academia. The American Institute for Boys and Men reports that “there are now 2.4 million more female than male undergraduates on U.S. campuses”–8.9 million women to 6.5 million men. As of 2022, females were nine percent more likely to graduate from university than males. Men are also less likely than women to complete their college degrees, with a 43 percent completion rate compared to 54 percent of women.

On Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, the host asks Galloway to explain why “one of your big concerns is how much trouble young men are in here in America.”

“Well, let’s look at the data,” Galloways says. “Four times as likely to kill themselves. Three times as likely to be addicted. 12 times as likely to be incarcerated.”

The professor contends these young men are struggling because America’s “education system is highly biased against boys” and because “our society has absolutely no empathy for young men.”

Galloway wonders why more social and government programs aren’t intervening in this dangerous phenomenon.

“We hear words like accountability. We hear words like pull yourself up by your boots or you should be more in touch with your emotions,” he explained of mental health advice often given to males. “If any group was committing with killing themselves at four times the rate of the control group, we would move in with programs.”

The National Institute of Mental Health corroborates Galloway’s figures. In 2021, the male suicide rate was four times higher than females, with 22.8 out of 100,000 men choosing to end their lives. (For females, the figure is 5.7 for every 100,000.)

Similarly, MentalHealth.org states that “men are nearly three times as likely as women to become dependent on alcohol and three times as likely to report frequent drug use.” Men are also more often “compulsorily detained (or ‘sectioned’) for treatment than women.” Men also make up more than 90 percent of the prison population, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons; they are also much more likely to commit crimes. 

Galloway calls upon other men to stand up and “mentor” younger males who are perhaps struggling to find their way in life. It’s something the professor can relate to, having grown up with a single mother.

“I was that guy, right? Living with my mom. Not a lot of prospects or opportunities,” he explained. “And I had some wonderful men get involved in my life. A stockbroker, a guy across the hall that used to take me horseback riding, a couple of my mom’s boyfriends who stayed involved in my life. They didn’t need to do that. They were just really good men.”

Galloway continued: “I spend a lot of time with young men. I say this, I think if we want better men, we’re gonna need to be better men. The ultimate expression of manliness is to get involved in the child and in the life of a child that’s not yours.”

You can watch Galloway’s exclusive Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace clip below. His full interview begins streaming on June 7, and new episodes of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? stream Fridays on Max.

Jean Smart WTTCW (2:25)

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).